U.S. Airlines Get Citigroup’s Calio to Lead Lobbying

Nov. 29 (Bloomberg) -- Nicholas Calio, who led Citigroup
Inc.’s efforts to shape financial regulations and served as top
congressional liaison for U.S. presidents George H.W. Bush and
George W. Bush, will become chief Washington lobbyist for the
nation’s major airlines.

Calio, 57, replaces James May, 64, on Jan. 1, the Air
Transport Association said in a statement today. May has led the
group since 2003.

“I am really excited,” Calio said in an interview. “The
priority issues are going to be just what you expect -- taxes,
regulation, infrastructure and market access internationally.”

The Washington-based association for carriers including
United Continental Holdings Inc. and Delta Air Lines Inc. is
working to fight off tax increases and accelerate an overhaul of
the air-traffic control system.

“When you have the opportunity to take advantage of the
talents of somebody like Nick Calio, it is always a significant
opportunity,” United Continental Chairman Glenn Tilton, who is
also chairman of the trade group, said in an interview.

Calio is known for his ability to work successfully with
both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, Tilton said.

May, a lobbyist for television and radio broadcasters
before he led the airline group, said “it was simply time” for
the change. May said he isn’t ready to comment on his next move.

“I’m not the retiring type,” he said. “Stay tuned.”

Overhauling Financial Rules

New York-based Citigroup, the third-largest U.S. bank by
assets, received $45 billion from the government bailout fund in
2008, and became partly owned by taxpayers. Calio started as the
lender’s chief Washington lobbyist in 2003.

He was among bank lobbyists working to shape the most
extensive overhaul of financial rules since the Great
Depression. The legislation, spurred by the 2008 financial
collapse, was signed into law in July by President Barack Obama.

Calio was White House assistant for legislative affairs
from January 2001 to January 2003 in the Republican
administration of George W. Bush, playing the same role as a
liaison to Congress that he did under Bush’s father, President
George H.W. Bush. For the younger Bush, he helped enact tax
cuts, the No Child Left Behind education law, and the security
buildup after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Between White House stints, Calio co-founded the lobbying
firm O’Brien Calio, now the OB-C Group LLC. His clients included
Fort Worth, Texas-based AMR Corp.’s American Airlines and
Atlanta-based United Parcel Service Inc., Senate records show.

Calio’s clients also have included the predecessors to
Dallas-based AT&T Inc., the largest U.S. phone company, and
Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc., the nation’s largest health
insurer by enrollment. In 2000, the year before Calio joined the
Bush administration, the firm was paid $3.7 million to lobby,
according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington-based research group.